Plans to spotlight affordable housing

Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is already promising change if she is selected to lead the committee.

During the midterm elections Tuesday, Democrats took control of the House, while Republicans kept the Senate.

This means the Republicans will have to give up their leadership of House committees. As current ranking member, it is likely that Waters will take over as chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee.

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And she is already making promises for if she is selected to lead.

“With a Democratic majority in the House, and a mandate from the American public, the Financial Services Committee will get to work making sure the financial system is fair for all Americans,” Waters said. “As the senior Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, I would be honored to lead the committee next year with the support of my Democratic colleagues.”

Waters promised that, if she is selected as chair, she will spotlight housing issues such as affordable housing and homelessness.

“If I am selected by my colleagues to serve as chair of the committee, I will prioritize protecting consumers and investors from abusive financial practices, making sure that there are strong safeguards in place to prevent another financial crisis, expanding and supporting affordable housing opportunities and tackling the homelessness crisis, encouraging responsible innovation in financial technology, promoting diversity and inclusion in the financial services sector and ensuring that hardworking Americans and small businesses have fair access to the financial system and opportunities to thrive,” she said.

“It is critical that we bring accountability to the Trump administration and the regulatory agencies under the Committee's jurisdiction,” Waters said. “That includes ensuring that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be allowed to resume its essential role of protecting consumers from harmful practices without interference from the Trump administration.”

Kelsey Ramírez is an Associate Editor at HousingWire. In this role she spearheads the production of HW Magazine. Ramírez is a journalism graduate of University of Texas at Arlington. She previously covered hard issues such as homelessness and domestic violence.